FA-10/ FA-12 Troubleshooting Guidelines

10/13/92

Most problems are caused by cabling problems, configuration problems at the computer, or incompatible hardware at the computer. To help determine where the problem is, the Fryers RS232 software disk includes a test program. You can find the program (FCHECK) in the TROUBLE subdirectory on the disk. You can also download FCHECK from this website.

The program works in conjunction with the RS232 cable that is provided with the RS232 option. The cable includes two leds which show communications activity between the computer and the instrument.

Testing FIPP mode:

For the FCHECK test program to work, the audiometer must be configured in the FIPP mode of operation. The FCHECK program can not test operation with the ASCII mode.

To use the FCHECK test program, refer to the documentation found on the disk along with the program.

Testing ASCII mode:

If you are using the ASCII mode and do not want to open the audiometer up to reconfigure it for the FIPP mode, you can test the audiometer with a terminal emulation program on the computer.

The Audiometer operates at 9600 baud, 8 data bits, no parity. You should set the terminal (or terminal program) to these settings.

To test the ASCII interface, send a command to the audiometer by entering it at the keyboard. On power-up, the default is to not echo the commands. So the first command you might want to give it is "ECHO ON" which will tell the audiometer to echo the characters as you type them in. If the command was accepted, you should see "OK" returned followed by a new prompt. If the command was not accepted, you should see a question mark "?" returned followed by a new prompt.

If you do not get anything back, watch the green led on the cable. It should flash momentarily as you type characters on the keyboard (watch carefully, the light will be dim since the amount of time it is on is very small). If it does not flash, you may not be connected to the proper COM port. Make sure that the COM port the terminal program is using is the same as the one the cable is connected to.

To test the communications port on the computer, you can still use the FIPP based FCHECK test program. Just ignore the message that says that there is no instrument connected. It will still test the computer hardware up to that point.

If the green light does flash, try entering the command "VER". The audiometer should respond with the current copyright message and version number of the software. At the same time, the red led should flash as the message is being sent. If the green led flashes, but the red led does not flash, or the red light flashes but you do not get a recognizable response, the terminal (or computer) may not be set up to talk to the audiometer properly. Check to insure that the baudrate, data, and parity settings are correct if you are using your own communications program.

If you still have problems, reconfigure the audiometer to FIPP operation and use the FCHECK program to see if the audiometer is operational. If the FCHECK program works, but the ASCII mode does not seem to be working, then there is still something wrong with your system setup. If the FIPP method works, the ASCII method will always work.

Be sure to check that the instrument is in the correct mode for your testing. In the FIPP mode, the red led will flash continuously, and the green led will only flash when the computer sends commands to the audiometer. In the ASCII mode, the green led will only flash when the computer sends a command to the audiometer, and the red led will only flash when the audiometer responds to the command. Thus if the red led is flashing all the time, you are in the FIPP mode, if the red led does not flash, you are in the ASCII mode (unless of course something else is wrong).

Note: Early versions of the FCHECK program will identify the audiometer as an HE100. This identification is built into the FCHECK program. The Fonix audiometer was originally called an HE100 before it was released, but part way through development the model designation was changed to FA-10. Unfortunately, the FCHECK program was released with the old model designation still programmed inside.

Frye also makes several private label audiometers, such as the ME3 and OTO. These audiometers are actually FA-10 audiometers and will report that they are FA-10 when asked via RS232. For developement and testing purposes these audiometers are equivalent to and may be treated the same as an FA-10.

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